1. A novel molecular pathway of lipid accumulation in human hepatocytes caused by PFOA and PFOS.
- Author
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Gou X, Tian M, Yan L, Xia P, Ji H, Tan H, Shi W, Yu H, and Zhang X
- Subjects
- Humans, Hep G2 Cells, Environmental Pollutants toxicity, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease chemically induced, Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease metabolism, Fluorocarbons toxicity, Alkanesulfonic Acids toxicity, Caprylates toxicity, Hepatocytes drug effects, Hepatocytes metabolism, Lipid Metabolism drug effects
- Abstract
Exposed to ubiquitously perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) has been associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), yet the underlying molecular mechanism remains elusive. The extrapolation of empirical studies correlating per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure with NAFLD occurrence to real-life exposure was hindered by the limited availability of mechanistic data at environmentally relevant concentrations. Herein, a novel pathway mediating hepatocyte lipid accumulation by PFOA and PFOS at human-relevant dose (<10 μM) was identified by integrating CRISPR-Cas9 genome screening, concentration-dependent transcriptional assay in HepG2 cell and epidemiological data mining. 1) At genetic level, nudt7 showed the highest enriched potency among 569 NAFLD-related genes, and the transcription of nudt7 was significantly downregulated by PFOA and PFOS exposure (<7 μM). 2) At molecular pathway, upon exposure to ≤10
-4 μM PFOA and PFOS, the downregulation of nudt7 transcriptional expression triggered the reduction of Ace-CoA hydrolase activity. 3) At cellular level, increased lipids were measured in HepG2 cells with PFOA and PFOS (<2 μM). Overall, we identified a novel mechanism mediated by transcriptional downregulation of nudt7 gene in hepatocellular lipid increase treated with PFOA and PFOS, which could potentially explain the NAFLD occurrence associated with exposure to PFASs in humans., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)- Published
- 2024
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